I have a vent that I want to control using electronics and some sort of actuator since it's really high on the wall.

Here's a picture of the vent and the knob that pushes up or down to close the vent.

I figured some sort of actuator could push up or pull down the knob.. but I don't have any experience with actuators so I was hoping someone could give me a few pointers. Oh, and I have about 5 years experience with microcontrollers (PIC) and know basic electronics from studying this website.

Haha, yeah I knew someone would say that. But the vent is in front of a long table that's about 3 feet deep. Getting up on a chair and reaching for it is a pain. So why do I want to close the vent? My landlord makes stinky, annoying food that I would rather not smell when I'm sleeping.

Put a current sensing loop on the power cord to landlord's stove, and run it into your apartment. In your apartment, connect a spring-return solenoid to the vent lever, powered by a 555 timer. The timer is tripped in monostable mode when current is detected in the landlord's stove circuit, closing the vent. The timer's components are selected to provide a 20-minute delay; 20 minutes after the landlord's stove is turned off, the solenoid de-energises and the vent is opened again.

As a kicker, you could have a solenoid spray some air freshener throught the vent when it reopens. I've found the Ozium brand to be quite effective.

You may consider making your own vent. It's easiest to make it automation friendly.

If you want to use that 'el crapo vent get at it with something to loosen up the mechanism so it's free to move. For open/close a solenoid would do fine. You may need to amplify the solenoid motion with a lever, see Archimedes he can help you move worlds.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes.

“Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough and I will move the world”

Archimedes, 220 BC

If you want variable control you will have to use a stepper motor.

In either case you will need the electronics to take whatever control or sensor data you decide you need to position the stepper motor/solenoid to move the lever where you want it. (whew)

Of course the easiest is to drill a hole in the Knobby and then take a sturdy dowel rod with an eyelet screwed into it and thread a bolt through both. It makes a nice thwapping sound as you open and close it, it's run on free energy and doesn't pollute.